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Sometimes, when caring for an elderly relative, it really is tough to know what to do for the best. If you’re a caregiver, you are generally and solely in charge of the health of the individual under your care, making it difficult to make decisions that concern their welfare. However, when that person is a member of your family it will become even harder to deal with. You have known that individual thoroughly for most of your life therefore it is easy to remember what kind of person they were before mental or physical disability kicked in. That may actually cloud your judgement. Something that shouldn’t be hard to be able to decide upon is their independence. Whether a family member is physically or mentally disabled, you should always try to promote their independence as much as possible.

Where taking care of seniors is involved, there’s two main techniques associated with their independence. The first is promotion and the second is maintenance. You ought to do all you can within your power to promote and/or maintain the independence of any elderly person in need of care. Promotion of independence is largely encouraging them to do as much as they are able to on their own, even when it’s met with reluctance or downright stubbornness. Maintenance of independence is making sure that any willingness to do something for themselves is encouraged and that they are put in a position to execute that willingness.

Maintaining and promoting independence can offer an elderly person a sense of achievement and can even prevent them giving up on life completely. They aren’t totally dependent on one person in their own eyes then because they can still do something on their own, even when it is just walking a few steps or doing the washing up. Even if they have to be supervised, this will not detract from their achievement. When someone is having a caregiver do absolutely everything for them they will lose the capability to do anything on their own, and in extreme circumstances it can result in a reaction against the caregiver. Feelings of helplessness and futility could potentially cause rebellion and even violence because of their frustrations, and that in turn will then be focused on the individual nearest them - you!

The nature of independence is largely determined by the nature of an individual’s disability. If a person is physically disabled then you should do all you are able to promote activities that they can carry out, like helping with the shopping, writing letters or making calls. If someone is mentally disabled then washing up, cutting his or her own dinner or going to the toilet alone could possibly be in order. Obviously this varies from person to person because it’s necessary to assess what they’re capable of before trying some of these things. The last thing you want would be to place them in danger of any type. Alternatively, trying these actions under supervision could help you to decide, especially if you don’t have any previous frame of reference within the world of caring.

The promotion and maintenance of independence is one of the most essential aspects of senior caring, regardless of who it is that you are taking care of. It can form the foundation of your relationship with the person under your supervision and they’ll appreciate it, even if they reluctantly carry out the duties that you set them. A refusal to comply may lead to worse than actually coaxing them into doing it ever could. Persuasion skills do come in useful in this instance so you need to know what makes the person you are looking after tick. In order to be a good carer, you have to learn to hold back a bit and not take over. If you work via the philosophy of promoting independence then you will not go far wrong and everything else will just slot into place.